Everything You Need to Know About the Mysterious ‘Clapping Man’ in Alexandria
One famous story that every single Alexandrian knows about, is the story of a man that stands everyday for hours doing nothing but clapping. Yes, you heard that right. He could spend the whole day clapping so hard — in a particular spot in Horreya Road right in front of University of Engineering of Alexandria. He has been doing this for years.
Until this very day, nobody really knows exactly who this man is or why is he doing so. Bassem Ragab, the name people claim he is, changes the story he tells whenever people approach him. Many Alexandrians were curious enough to go start a conversation with him, hoping to find some answers. Everyone says that, even though he seems mentally unstable, he’s harmless. With different people exchanging stories about him, there were only two that gained popularity.
The first one says that Bassem had a son who studied Engineering and he waited for him to go get his graduation certificate, but he got hit by a car on his way back. The father never got to share his son’s happiness, so instead, he chose to stand every single day in front of his university at the exact same spot where he was waiting for him. An endless standing ovation seemed like a proper way to honor the memory of his beloved son. On the other hand, he doesn’t always face the university, he sometimes stands facing the opposite direction. So, could this be the real story?
The other famous story is much more bizarre. Bassem claims, in this version of the story, that he had trouble at work in 2002 and that he’s being watched ever since. Adding that he constantly claps to gain the government’s attention as he filed 95 complaints, but all he got was no reply.
